From The Beginning
by Millie Bates
Summary: The story of the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald.
1. Chapter 1: Candy Floss

**I was hesitant to do a GindelwaldxDumbledore fic, but I love the pairing and I wanted to tell their story in the way I thought it happened. Thank you. **

**Please Review! xxxx**

The slender, dark haired youth watched the rain pour from his window. It had rained nearly every day since summer had began. But that wasn't surprising, rain seemed to fall endlessly in Godric's Hollow in the summertime. Or maybe the key word was seemed.

"Albus! You git! You're head of the family now, I've been watching Ariana now for hours. Come down here!"

Albus nearly sighed at the nagging voice of his younger brother, Aberforth. He wasn't a fan of dreaming, of fun. He surely didn't dream at all, and if he did, he wouldn't dare let them linger. He let them die. He couldn't imagine living like that. Living without dreams, without hope of ever leaving. Of being free. Of freedom from-

"Albus!"

Albus cocked his head to the side in aggravation.

"Alright, I'm coming down, Aberforth! Don't get your knickers in a knot!"

He looked out the rain splattered window one more time, but the view before him had changed, though still blurry from the rain. Madame Bagshot seemed to appear out of nowhere. She was always a bit odd, he supposed. She was clutching onto her raggedy silk shawl and tugging a white, paint-chipped trunk behind her, very inefficiently it seemed. He wondered why she wasn't using her wand. Perhaps she had broken it. Another figure came into sight. A boy, no, a young man. With wet hair from the rain. It looked like it might be light brown when dry. Or perhaps blonde. Either or. He was muttering words at Madame Bagshot, who paid no mind, it seemed.

"ALBUS!"

"I'm coming!"

He hesitantly turned from the scene and went to greet his brother, who was fuming.

"You were made head of the house, you ought to act like it," Aberforth stated through gritted teeth. Ariana was resting in her yellow armchair by the fireplace. She swayed, and it seemed that she was swaying along with the dancing fire in front of her.

"Albus is here to watch you, Ariana. I've got to go into town, today. He'll watch you," Aberforth said to his sister sweetly.

She looked up at him with large brown eyes. "Don't go," she mouthed.

"I won't be gone long, just a moment, I promise."

He didn't allow himself to look into her eyes again. His feet already felt as if they were made of lead. He left in a curt manner, leaving Albus and Ariana alone in the parlor.

He smiled at his only sister. "Have you had fun today, Ariana? I heard you went to feed the animals today. How was that?"

She didn't turn to face him but for a moment. "Yes. I held one of the little chickens. It was light and yellow, very, very soft as well."

"It sounds like a very good day," he said as he smiled at her softly.

She smiled back, though it seemed distant and not entirely directed at him. She had been a bit off since their Mother had passed, and she was already bad enough before the death of their Mother. Everyone who knew the Dumbledore family was especially concerned for her.

And the rumors. The rumors were the worst. That Ariana had killed her own Mother. That she had done it because she had beaten Ariana while she was still alive. That she was a squib and was chained up in the cellar at all times. The worst part was that some of them were partly, if not entirely, true.

"Would you like some tea?"

She nodded curtly.

He stood and went to the kitchen to boil the water for tea. He watched it simmer for a minute before seeing a movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the dusty kitchen window. He always forgot it was there. He opened it and peeked out. The rain was still coming down, but not as heavily as before. He could see the figure from Madame Bagshots front yard. He was in his room drying his hair with a hand towel. It did seem to be blonde in the candle light of the room. And a bit wavy as well.

The tea whistled loudly behind him. He levitated it carefully and prepared a silver tray with assorted china cups from the cubboard. He poured her tea and stirred in 3 spoonfuls of sugar, the way she liked it.

He glanced at the window again.

The man was looking into the kitchen.

Albus spilled droplets of boiling tea onto the wooden floor. He cleared his throat uncomfortably as the man seemed to laugh at his small folly. He wasn't sure if he should say something, or look back at him, or-

"Is the tea ready, Albus?"

He exhaled sharply and shut the kitchen window.

"Yes, the tea just finished," he said as he set the tray on a little wooden table to Ariana's left. "I've prepared it just the way you like it. And look, I got you some little candies as well." He popped one of the cherry candies into his mouth.

She smiled and picked up a lemon drop. "These one's are my favorite. It's sweet, and also a little sour."

He watched her place the lemon drop onto her tongue. He crunched the cherry candy. He placed a lemon drop between his teeth and savoured the tangy taste.

"You know what? I think you're right. These are wonderful. They might be my favorite, too."

Her eyes lit up for a second, and then dimmed again.

There was a thud outside and someone was yelling out curses.

Albus stood. "Cover your ears, Ariana, you don't need to hear those words." He stealthily moved the white curtains and peered outside. The blonde was outside again. He had forgotten two more suitcases which had popped open. His belongings were scattered throughout the yard. He muttered something again. He had forgotten his wand, and Albus could tell.

Albus took his wand out of his pocket and stepped outside. He waved his wand at the now soaked pile of items. They gathered into the suitcases, which latched shut, securely this time.

The young man looked at Albus as if he had never had anyone help him before.

Albus nodded awkwardly, as did the blonde.

"Thank you. I had forgotten my-"

Albus interupted him. "I know, you forgot your wand."

The blonde looked at him suspiciously. "You've been spying on me, have you?"

Albus nearly scoffed. "No, of course not."

"You look like the person in the window. A bit nosey, are you?"

"I could say the same to you, sir."

The blonde cracked a smile. This surprised Albus.

"Grindelwald. Gellert Grindelwald." The blonde extended his hand.

Albus slapped his palm onto his and shook his hand without hesitation.

"Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore."


	2. Chapter 2: Peppermint

"You can't be serious, Albus."

Albus sighed at his brother as he buttoned the final button at the top of his shirt. He was going over to Madame Bagshot's for tea with Gellert. Madame Bagshot was out with one of her batty friends she had over at the house often. Surely Gellert didn't even think she was sane. He didn't really understand why the blonde was choosing to spend his summer in Godric's Hollow.

"Albus, look at me!"

Aberforth's voice sounded angry and almost hopeless.

"Albus!"

He turned from the mirror to look at his brother. He looked into the blue eyes that looked strikingly like his. Thoughts seemed to move through his mind like racing bullets, though none of them mature enough to catch the one that was about to spill out.

"You're the one who love's her so much, Aberforth, you can watch her for just an hour more, can't you?"

There was a tense pause.

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean, Albus? That you don't love her? You don't love your own sister?"

"That isn't what I meant to-"

"Don't," Aberforth said softly. "I don't want to hear it. Save your breath."

Albus watched his brother slam the door shut. He could hear him walking down the stairs. He stood and followed.

"Aberforth," he began softly.

His brother wouldn't look at him.

"Aberforth, please. That isn't what I meant. I do love her. She's my only sister. But I know she love's you better, she always has. It is never me she wants to spend time with."

"Are you daft? She adores you. She talks about you. She talks about how much time you spend in your room. She understands that her brother isn't there for her, and she doesn't know why. She thinks it's her fault that _you _won't come down here. And it isn't, it has never been her fault. It's YOUR fault! And I-" Aberforth choked on his words. "-I tell her, Albus. I tell her that it isn't her fault, that none of this is. I have to sit there and tell her that the world just bestows horrid situations onto certain people, that it is all complete coincidence. That this pile of shit that she calls life is just the world casting terrible things onto her by _coincidence_."

Albus watched his brother as if he was a snake about to strike. He didn't dare speak.

"But you know what? It isn't the world. It is the people in it. It has always been the people in it. You, Albus. You contribute to the pain in her world. And you don't care. You just act like she is nothing. Like she does all this for the attention or thrill or-"

"Enough."

Albus felt tears welling in his eyes as he opened the front door and looked out at the damp grass and grey skies.

Aberforth began speaking again.

"But-but," he looked at his brother desperately. "Albus. . ."

Albus didn't turn to look at his brother. He needed some sort of escape from all of this. He clenched his jaw and swallowed his tears. He left without a single word.

Madame Bagshot's house was everything he expected. Vibrant, floral patterns. Lots of purples, pinks, and oranges. He watched a large cuckoo clock on the wall. The largest hand seemed to not be moving at all. He leaned back awkwardly in the puke-green chair. A house elf was preparing tea in the kitchen. Gellert was upstairs still. The house elf had shown him in and told him to make himself comfortable, which he was completely failing at.

"Tea!"

It was just the house elf. She set a cup of black tea in front of him along with a few jam filled cookies. Albus smiled faintly at the elf as she went into the kitchen.

There was now complete silence.

Albus sipped the steaming tea and stood up. The room wasn't unpleasant, just colorful, he thought. He looked at the large bookcase. One book stuck out while the others were in perfect order. He began to tug on the book when a noise from upstairs startled him. He sat downstairs and pursed his lips. Whatever the book was, it would have to wait.

"Good day, Albus," a voice said from the stairs. Albus turned around, clearly startled. He felt his upper lip twitch very slightly at the sight of him.

He looked far different today.

He had wavy blonde hair that rested atop his shoulders. He was also taller than Albus. About six inches taller. His clothes were in perfect order and he was smiling a perfect smile. His eyes were a hazel color that reminded Albus faintly of honey.

"Well, Albus," Gellert began. "Not very much of a gentleman, are you?"

"What? I-" Albus tried to set his cup of tea down and, of course, managed only to spill it on his leg.

He could hear a laugh behind him, one that rang out like a bell. The kind that would linger.

"Perhaps you ought to sleep more," Gellert muttered as he sat in a chair opposite of Albus. Albus let out a nervous laugh and took out his wand. He tapped the spilled tea on his leg and watched it dry almost instantly.

"I'm just a bit off today, it seems," he said as he remembered Aberforth's words.

Gellert picked up a cup and brought it to his lips. "Oh?"

Albus pushed back his brown curls with his fingers. He wasn't sure what to say.

Gellert sighed. "That was a question, of course. How are you?"

"I'm well. A little bit of trouble with my family, but everyone has that."

Gellert raised his eyebrow. "It isn't you, you know. It's them."

Albus picked at a cookie.

"It's just-"

"Albus, you can tell me about them. I wouldn't tell a soul."

Albus looked into his eyes and felt his stomach lurch in the best of ways.

"I just want to leave. To dream. To have my freedom. I can't stay here anymore. I want to go out, see the world, learn new magic, meet new people. I want to live. But I'm head of the family. I must stay for my sister. She isn't well enough to go to school or stay with anyone else but her family. It isn't a good situation for any of us in the house. My brother, Aberforth, is in his fifth year at Hogwarts, you see. He can't stay and watch my sister by himself. He has to finish school, I won't allow him to drop out to watch Ariana. It has to be me."

There was a silence. Gellert was surely judging him.

Finally, he spoke.

"How selfish of them."

Albus looked up curiously. "Selfish?"

Gellert smirked. "Yes, of course. They don't care about what you want. It always has to be about them." He frowned at Albus. "When it should be about you. You do so much for them, what do they do for you? What do they give you? Nothing. You receive nothing for all that you do. You deserve better."

Albus rubbed his blue eyes and rested his chin on his hands.

"You're right, Gellert. God, you're right."

There was another silence. Albus was aware of Gellert's lips curling into a smile.

"I've got something to show you, Albus. _Accio Tales of Beedle the Bard!_"


End file.
